NEWYORK: Supreme Court of Pakistan’s judge Justice Athar Minallah has said that he wants that the courts should remain open whenever there is a threat of martial law.
Addressing the New York Bar Association on ‘Independence of Judiciary and Rule of Law in Pakistan’, the SC’s judge highlighted the challenges and critical importance of judicial independence and the rule of law in Pakistan.
Justice Athar Manullah said that he wished that he courts were open on July 5 when Zia removed the elected prime minister, wished that the courts were open on October 12, 1999 when Musharraf threw out the elected prime minister.
He said that if someone had tried to remove the then Prime Minister Imran Khan, then this would also have been a test, this test would have been for the Islamabad High Court whether it would have stood up for the supremacy of the Constitution or not.
Justice Athar Manullah said that when I wrote a note, the personal data of my two sons was put on social media and that data was obtained from a government agency.
Justice Athar Minullah said that his wife, who has nothing to do with politics, was attacked by making a documentary and it is a test of a judge, it is a test of independence of judges.
He said that those who used to propagate against him till 2022 suddenly changed, today those people were doing propaganda who took advantage of Islamabad High Court at that time, when no other High Court of the country was giving them relief at that time.
Justice Athar Minullah also said that this is the real test of a judge, which increases the public’s confidence in the judge and the court, and the judge should not be afraid of criticism.
